Hi all,
Anybody got any unusual picks - either shapes or materials - that they like to use?
I actually don't use picks much, but I've collected a few. It's an odd collection though.
There's about half a dozen of the regular plastic ones (mostly got free with a new guitar), two made of felt, a couple made of wood, two wire ones, and a few experimental home made ones cut out of various household plastic containers.
The felt ones are old, and I haven't seen them in my local shops lately. Anyone ever used one? Not exactly your average Rock Pick, but if you're looking for soft and mellow you can get some interesting sounds with them. The wire ones are fun to use too (one galavanised, one copper wire). They're home made, after seeing this:
Some of the plastic ones are also home made. I tried cutting them from various household containers, to experiment with different sounds and feels depending on the properties of the material. Quite fun to do. :)
Anybody got any unusual or interesting ones they use?
Cheers, Chris
I did an eBay search one day and came up with a bunch of different materials. Different metals, bone, etc. I think one was made out of a fossil from a mastadon or something like that. I also hear that one of the dudes in ZZ Top used a Mexican coin of some sort.
Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin
Interesting. 8)
Oddly enough, I was wondering about bone.
Another thing I've meant to look into one day was false nails - the sort women wear. Anybody tried those when their own nails either broke or were lousy in the first place? Are they any good? Difficult to get off again, or whatever? I could paint them to match the guitar :wink:
I know that Classical guitarists are incredibly careful about nail care and if they break one before a recital it's a major disaster. :(
I have pretty ordinary nails that break a fair bit, so I tend to finger pick with the tips of my fingers, with just a bit of added nail if there's any available at the time.
Cheers, Chris
Well I don't know bout this one.
I'd forgotten the Jellifish. :)
I've come across them on the net, but never seen one face to face. Anybody used one?
I have something that looks just like it though, which I had to buy when my son was at PrimarySchool. But it's a nit comb! :shock:
Cheers, Chris
I reviewed it here.
It's pretty good for an extra effect in your kit, but not all the advertising makes it out to be.
Worth the money.
.... but not all the advertising makes it out to be.
Nothing ever is. :(
Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin
Interesting. 8)
Oddly enough, I was wondering about bone.
Another thing I've meant to look into one day was false nails - the sort women wear. Anybody tried those when their own nails either broke or were lousy in the first place? Are they any good? Difficult to get off again, or whatever? I could paint them to match the guitar :wink:
I know that Classical guitarists are incredibly careful about nail care and if they break one before a recital it's a major disaster. :(
I have pretty ordinary nails that break a fair bit, so I tend to finger pick with the tips of my fingers, with just a bit of added nail if there's any available at the time.
Cheers, Chris
I play mostly finger-style Chris, and I've been having false nails applied to my right hand for about a year now and they work out great. I can get a hard attack like using a pick with them or a softer attack using the tip of my finger with just a bit of nail. Pretty easy to maintain, just use a dremmel to shape and shorten as they grow out
Immature? Of course I'm immature Einstein, I'm 50 and in a Rock and ROll band.
New Band site http://www.myspace.com/guidedbymonkeys
Wegen picks ( http://www.wegenpicks.com ) are fantastic and lots of folks swear by them. Pricey, but I haven't found anything else that compares for tone or feel.
"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." -- HST
Teleplayer, that goes under the category of "You know you are a guitarist when you use a dremel to shape your right hand only fake fingernails."
Teleplayer, that goes under the category of "You know you are a guitarist when you use a dremel to shape your right hand only fake fingernails."
:lol: :lol: :lol:
Immature? Of course I'm immature Einstein, I'm 50 and in a Rock and ROll band.
New Band site http://www.myspace.com/guidedbymonkeys
Being used to playing with fingerpicks and a thumbpick on my resonator guitar, I'm sitting here with those picks and a semihollowbody electric guitar at the moment. Today's picks are brown plastic Dunlop fingerpicks, a pearloid Golden Gate thumbpick, and a Fred Kelly Speed Pick thumbpick.
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
I play mostly finger-style Chris, and I've been having false nails applied to my right hand for about a year now and they work out great. I can get a hard attack like using a pick with them or a softer attack using the tip of my finger with just a bit of nail. Pretty easy to maintain, just use a dremmel to shape and shorten as they grow out
Thanks Tele, that's just what I wanted to know. :D
Using the Dremel is a great idea. Short of using a very small chainsaw, that's about as good a blokey touch as I can imagine. 8) It should definitely deflect any potential cracks about nail varnish and eye shadow...
It also sounds like a perfect excuse to buy a dremel. :D I've got a well equipped workshop (from my furniture making and house building days) but never got around to buying one of those little beauties.
I reviewed it here.
It's pretty good for an extra effect in your kit, but not all the advertising makes it out to be.
Worth the money.
Thanks Nick. Will find and read.
It's time I put a bit more effort into pick style playing, and having a few unusual angles to explore often helps keep me on task.
Now if could just get hold of Robert Johnson's index finger bone, and find the right crossroads to stand at....... :wink:
Cheers, Chris
I came across this while looking at some pick guards. Since you are interested in different types of picks, thought I'd post it
Immature? Of course I'm immature Einstein, I'm 50 and in a Rock and ROll band.
New Band site http://www.myspace.com/guidedbymonkeys
